


When Charlie Met Harry

by rideswraptors



Series: Trauma [5]
Category: Jurassic World (2015)
Genre: Charlie Dearing is a Little Shit, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-17
Updated: 2016-02-17
Packaged: 2018-05-21 07:02:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6042502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rideswraptors/pseuds/rideswraptors
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Charlie befriends an orangutan at Henry Vilas Zoo.</p>
            </blockquote>





	When Charlie Met Harry

                  By the time Charles Z. Dearing was twelve years old, he was very well known around Henry Vilas Zoo. In fact, he was a permanent fixture there, and not even a new night guard would question his presence regardless of the location. He was a bright boy with sandy brown hair that curled just so, a ready smile and story on his lips for anyone he might encounter. Charlie was spoiled, and he knew it too, seeing as everyone told him that all the time. Both of his parents were doting and affectionate, sparing no expense to spend extra time with him. For one, this made him a very happy and outgoing child. For another, it made him very mischievous in his constant quest for adventure. In general, he was well-liked by his teachers and classmates. Charlie was exceptionally intelligent, very interested in science and reading, always asking too many questions, and was by all accounts a model student. But during parent-teacher conferences, his teachers would always admit that while Charlie hadn’t _technically_ broken any rules or was outwardly disruptive, many of the behavioral problems in the classroom could be traced back to him. This offended his father very deeply, but his mother knew better. Claire Dearing knew better than anyone that her son had all of his parents’ best traits and all of their bad habits. He never technically “broke a rule” because he knew the rulebook by heart and looked for loopholes. He had his mother’s penchant for research and his father’s for thrill-seeking. His second grade teacher once reluctantly admitted that while she would _never_ accuse him directly, she had the distinct impression that Charlie had been involved in the principal’s toupee being strung up with the school flag one morning. Naturally, Owen thought it was absurd since he was _eight_ at the time. But again, Claire knew her son better. That night she crossed her arms, cocked an eyebrow, and asked about the incident with the principal’s hair piece.

                “Ms. Branburry, right?” The boy had sighed and sunk into the couch, knowing it wasn’t his teacher’s fault. Resigned to his fate, Charlie relayed how their principal had embarrassed one of the other students (a sixth grader) in front of the whole school so that she was crying in the bathroom for an hour. So he talked to one of his friends, who had an older brother who knew a guy who knew another student that was friends with the janitor that could get into the principal’s office for less than a minute. There was a rumor that he kept an extra hair piece in his office. This kid was supposed to get the hair piece or some other personal item from the office and bring it to Charlie. Charlie then gave it to an eighth grader who could get into the closet where the kept the flag overnight and attached it to the string along with a big piece of cloth which read “Property of Mr. Helston, our Principal.” But, no one ever got in trouble for it because it was a _teacher_ who was responsible for raising the flag that day, and she swore she never even saw the hair piece or the message. Both parents had slowly sat down, their mouths gaping a little in shock (and maybe a little pride) as he talked.

                “So what? You’re a vigilante now?” his father demanded a little wildly.

                “Vigi-what?”

                Claire kneeled in front of him, hands on his little ones, “A vigilante is someone who takes the law into their own hands to get revenge for others.”

                “Then yes,” he said with a curt nod, “I’m that.” Owen threw his hands up in the air, completely at a loss at how to handle the situation, seeing as he would just as soon reward his son for being chivalrous and clever as punish him.

                “Charlie, did you even know the girl whose feelings he hurt?”

                “Welll…” he started, and it looked like he was about to lie until he saw the look in his mother’s eyes and pouted. “No. I heard about her before. But I don’t talk to her.” Owen let out a frustrated groan, and went to pace behind the couch. “But!” the boy shouted, making Claire wince. “You shouldn’t make people cry. Especially when they didn’t do nothing!”

                “Anything,” Claire corrected.

                “Anything,” he parroted back. “She didn’t do _anything_ and Mr. Helston made her cry.”

                Owen fluffed his hair in frustration, making his son twist up his lips in consternation. His father was the one who reacted emotionally when Charlie got into trouble. His mother meted out the punishments, usually harsher than strictly necessary, but Charlie _hated_ to upset his father. _Hated it_. Claire hadn’t quite put her finger on the whys of that one, but she had her suspicions. Everyone believed that Owen was so lackadaisical and spontaneous, but the truth was that the man was _regulated_. Messing with his order of things, mentally or otherwise, was a quick way to get on his bad side. Even if he hated his own father, Owen wasn’t an Army Ranger’s son for nothing. And any remaining disorder had been knocked out by the SEALs. Usually, it was best to let him work it out of his system, but in that moment he was upsetting their son. That was unacceptable.

                “Owen!” she snapped, forcing him out of whatever mental tirade he’d been riding. Claire felt Charlie looking back and forth between them, but she held Owen’s gaze until she was certain he’d settled down. It took a moment, but the furious, hard look that echoed Derek Grady’s finally faded, and Owen let out a long sigh, braced his arms on the back of the couch, and cracked his neck.

                “Why is that guy in charge of our son’s education and well-being?” he asked quietly. Claire recognized that it was his way of asking without asking. He didn’t like her high handedness. He didn’t like when she disrupted the hierarchy and overstepped her bounds. Unfortunately, this incident was strenuously at odds with his very strict sense of right and wrong. 

                “I’ll handle it,” she promised, and his only response was a curt nod. In a move that annoyed her more than anything, Owen hurdled the backside of the couch to sit next to their son. He pinched the bridge of his nose and then folded his hands together over his knees.

                “We’ve had this conversation before, kid.”

                “I know,” Charlie said morosely.

                “So your response is to completely ignore everything I said?” Claire wasn’t surprised by the incredulity in his voice. In most cases, Charlie took everything his father said as law. It bordered on hero worship that made his teachers a little nervous. Hell, sometimes it made Claire nervous. Everything was “Dad said this” and “But Dad thinks that.” She and Owen often argued about what he said and did in front of Charlie since the boy was so adamant about being “just like Dad.” He’d gotten into more than one playground fight due to some other kid’s disagreement with him.

                “You said that we only fight to protect someone.”

                “And who were you protecting by stealing this man’s hair piece?”

                “Nobody,” Charlie admitted in a whisper not devoid of a little bit of shame.

                “So that’s revenge. Not cool, kid.”

                “Yes, sir.”

                “If you’d been caught, they would have kicked you out of school. Is that what you want? To go to another school? Make all new friends? Be that kid that has to go to a new school every year cause he can’t act right?”

                “No, sir.”

                “And do you think that girl would have been happy that you got in trouble and kicked out because of her?” Charlie’s eyes widened a little. Obviously he hadn’t taken that into consideration. “I’m not saying that Mr. Helston is a nice guy, but I don’t care about what he does. I care about what you do. And you know how I feel about following the rules. Did we raise you to act like that?”

                “ _Daaad_...”

                “Charlie, I swear if you whine at me right now…”

                “No, sir, you didn’t.”

                “And that means?”

                Charlie hung his little head, “Grounded.”

                “Two weeks, no TV,” Owen said firmly. “Go clean up for bed.” He mumbled out a “Yes, sir” and dragged his little self off to his room. Claire quickly moved to take his place on the couch and rubbed Owen’s back. He looked over at her, hands still clenched. “If I had pulled crap like that, my dad woulda beat the shit out of me.”

                Claire nodded, “I know, but you handled that pretty well.” She swatted his arm when he shook his head ruefully. “Stop it! That was more than fair.”

                Owen kicked at the coffee table, “Yeah, but I don’t even blame him. Guy sounds like a douche.”

                “Yeah,” she agreed pulling out her phone, “I’m definitely getting him fired.”

 *

                So if their son was a diabolical plotting handful with a vigilante sense of justice at eight, then at twelve he’d morphed into something else altogether. Charlie had either toned down his activities, or he was much more careful about them. Claire knew what Owen wanted to believe. Regardless, the kid kept his nose clean at school.

                Since Claire didn’t trust babysitters who weren’t family members, Charlie spent most of his free time at the zoo while he parents worked. He did his homework in Claire’s office, and then usually wandered off to help out some caretaker or go explore. When he was smaller, he’d been restricted to one area of the zoo under the watchful eyes of the employees. For a long time, he wasn’t allowed out of the reptile house, but he managed to win Claire over with his pleading, leaving Owen no ground to stand on. He had to have Owen’s permission to go into an animal enclosure, and the answer was usually no. Charlie was usually content to work with his dad and the alligators anyway. But very, very occasionally, he got _ideas_.

                Two months after Charlie was born, the zoo had acquired a pregnant orangutan named Sue after their previous orangutan died at the age of 65. Sue was rescued from an exotic animal farm in Canada, and was coming upon the last of her child-bearing years. After Sue gave birth to a male, the public chose to name him Harry. Go figure. And since Owen and Claire were zoo employees, they took Charlie to meet the new addition. Owen had his reservations, but Claire insisted it would be a good photo for the website. That, obviously, led to an argument which Owen lost. But they didn’t need to be worried; Charlie and Harry hit it off instantly, reaching for each other and shrieking, clapping their hands. And it did indeed make a cute picture for the website.

                As they grew up, the caretaker would periodically ask the Dearings to bring Charlie around so Harry could have some human interaction and socialization. They were watched carefully, and Charlie was never allowed to be with Harry alone, especially not inside the same room. For a good, long time this was a non-issue because there was no feasible way for a little boy to get into the enclosure without a key and not a damn soul was about to give him one. It did become an issue once Charlie started making friends with the caretakers and interns who were charmed by his precocious intelligence and curiosity.

                The summer Charlie was twelve the days were so hot that most patrons left the zoo by noon. Owen made Claire eat lunch with him most days, meaning that he made her stop working to eat most days, and since his cousins were at their father’s, Charlie was stuck there with them. Claire was adamant that they all eat together (if she was being forced to eat at any rate), so when Owen walked into her office alone, she balked.

                “Where’s Charlie?”

                Owen shrugged as he plopped down into a chair across from him. “He told me this morning he had stuff to do for Robert.”

                “For Robert? In the Primate Center?”

                “I assume so.”  Smoothly, Claire arched a brow and reached for her phone. Owen smirked. “Mommy senses tingling?”

                “He’s been up to something for months. Spending way too much time at the Primate Center.” Owen looked skeptical, but let her make the call in peace. She got an intern on the phone and asked them to find Charlie for her.

                “Oh!” Owen heard the girl say brightly over the speaker. “He’s just talking to Harry.” Claire frowned.

                “Do me a favor and make sure he stays there. Don’t tell him I called though.”

                “Sure thing.”

                Claire put the phone back on the receiver slowly, and stood, her hands braced on her desk. Owen knew that scowl fairly well, and didn’t even bother asking any questions. He stood up and went to hold the door open for her as she stormed off to find the closest golf cart.

                The Primate Center had been refurbished since Claire took over things, but was due for a good cleaning soon. New paint, some maintenance. But all and all it was a good enclosure. There was plenty of space for the animals, there was a good ratio of male to female among the different species, and there was enough room for visitors to linger without getting caught in a crowd. Because that’s exactly what was happening when Owen and Claire pulled up; a crowd had gathered to pass through, and the adults all seemed to be pretty excited to get a look at whatever was going on. Claire and Owen exchanged hard looks, assuming the worst. They pulled around to the back entrance, Claire jumping out before Owen had really stopped, but he was right behind her as she swept into the primate service area where a couple of the caretakers and the interns were crowded around the back window of the orangutan habitat.

                “On your six, Robert!” Owen yelled out as they came in. At the sound of Owen’s voice, the others quickly dispersed, leaving Robert in front of the window. The poor guy rolled his eyes when he saw Claire’s expression.

                “Bloody hell, what’s it now?” Robert and Claire had a tenuous relationship at best. According to her, he was one hell of a liability and one more lawsuit away from being fired. Owen didn’t quite understand her point of view since Robert was generally a good guy and really cared about the animals he looked after. It was just that very occasionally, he enjoyed a good prank on the interns.

                “Where’s Charlie?”

                He moved out of her way, “See for yourself.” Owen gave the pen a cursory look and found Sue lounging up in one of the higher trees on a branch. The habitat was open air during the summer with a big wooden jungle gym and plenty of tall trees and ropes for them to swing on. Since there were only two orangutans, their habitat was modest compared to other zoos’, but they appeared to be happy and were exceptionally healthy. But that wasn’t really the problem. The problem was that through the glass they saw their son plopped down on one of the bridges sitting across from Harry, moving his hands and gesticulating rapidly. They also saw that the large crowd of visitors was trying to get a closer look and take pictures of the boy and his monkey friend.

                “I think I’m having a stroke,” Claire said blandly. “Owen, what does a stroke feel like?”

                “It’s gonna feel a lot better once I kill, Robert,” Owen said rounding on the caretaker threateningly.

                “Oi!” he yelled throwing his hands up in surrender. “No need for violence. Orangutans aren’t aggressive, and Charlie and Harry are bonded. Totally safe, all hunky dory.”

                Owen shoved at his shoulder, “He’s an _animal_ , Robert, you can’t _know_ that.” Robert took a few steps back to pacify Owen, still holding his hands up.

                “I wouldn’t have let him in there if I wasn’t sure. Before, they were back in the medical pen, with bars between ‘em, but Harry would just hold Charlie’s hand through the bar. We figured it was time for a face to face where Harry would be most comfortable.”

                “ _We_?”

                “Robert, leave before my husband murders you, and I have to help him hide your body.”

                “Yep,” Robert squeaked ducking out of the room and far away from Owen. Claire was still standing at the window watching Charlie. Her hands were clenched on her arms where they were folded and she worried at her bottom lip. For all intents and purposes, Charlie was fine. He and Harry were sharing food and communicating in short gestures. Orangutans interacted with humans all of the time without getting violent or aggressive. And Harry wasn’t even a mature male. There were no females to compete for. There really wasn’t a good reason to worry. Owen came to stand beside her, hands on his hips, still fuming.

                “What do we do?”

                Claire hardly heard the question; she was so focused on the pair. “Do you think Charlie taught him to sign?” She finally looked over at Owen, who dragged a hand down his face and shrugged. “I don’t remember any paperwork coming through on that. And they would have told me for the publicity of it. The only reason they wouldn’t have…”

                “Is because it was Charlie doing the teaching. _Goddamn it_.” They were silent there for a little while, just watching. “He looks pretty comfortable out there,” Owen muttered. “I don’t know if I’m pissed or proud.”

                “Probably both.” She paused. “We can’t go rushing out there or yell for him to come back in. We don’t want to alert people to the fact that he shouldn’t be in there.”

                “Paul is going to pitch a _fit_.”

                Claire eyed him skeptically, “And what makes you think Paul isn’t involved?”

                His face dropped. “I hate this. I hate it. When the hell did people stop being afraid of me? Seriously.”

                “I think you’re underestimating your son’s charms.” She smiled when she heard him cursing under his breath. Luckily, they weren’t waiting for much longer. Charlie glanced at his watch finally, and realizing he was late, said goodbye to Harry, who hugged him, and made his way to the service door. It took him a second, but he stopped short in the service area on his way to the exit when he noticed his parents in his periphery. He groaned.

                “Yeah,” Owen snapped, “jig’s up, cupcake. Explain yourself, _now_.”

                He turned on his heels to face them squarely, hands jammed into his pockets. “I taught Harry to sign.” When there was no response to that, he continued with a heavy sigh. “And he was doing really good! I mean, he talks about food and trees a lot, but you know, good for an orangutan!” He babbled a little about the whole idea and process, and claimed the Harry was still sort of a baby and liked to be affectionate and to play, “So Robert thought…”

                Claire interrupted, “ _Robert_ thought?”

                “ _I_ thought that it would be a good idea to go into the habitat so we were on equal footing and he could take the lead and show me things for him to sign.” He risked a look at his parents’ faces, “So I did.” Claire and Owen looked at each other, silently communicating what they wanted to do. And once again, they both found that they were torn. It was _impressive_ to say the least. But he lied and put himself in a dangerous situation, and he even put people’s jobs and reputations on the line. If something had happened… But it didn’t… But if it _had_ …

                “Grounded,” Owen told him.

                “Two months,” Claire added.

                “No TV?”

                “No TV,” they answered in unison.

                “And,” Claire continued, “If you’re going to continue working with Harry, then you’re going to do it the _right_ way. You are going to put together a proposal for the board and explain to them what you want to do, why, and how it benefits the company. Then you’re going to go through the company’s safety training _and_ you’re going to be cleaning the Primate Center top to bottom for the next year.”

                “ _Year_?”

                “Year,” Claire confirmed. She bent down to his level, going eye to eye with her son who was happy but miserable. "You're on very, very thin ice, kid, so you better thank your lucky stars that you actually managed to pull this off without getting hurt.”

                “Yes, ma’am,” he answered, subdued.

                “Now, give me a kiss and go wait in the golf cart while I speak to your father.” Charlie pecked her cheek quickly and darted out of the room, not willing to risk upsetting her anymore. “That boy is going to be the death of me,” she said as she straightened. Owen spread his arms to hug her and let her bury her face in his chest for a moment.

                “Well that’s fitting since he gets all this daredevil stuff from you.”

Claire went stiff and took a step back, “Uh, excuse me, Navy SEAL,” she ticked off his indictments with her fingers, “trained tigers, trained velociraptors, works with alligators. And _I’m_ the daredevil?”

                He mimicked her finger ticking, “Took a management position at a dinosaur amusement park in Costa Rica, ran into the jungle after your nephews with said dinosaurs on the loose, and _let a T-rex_ _out_ of its paddock to fight an even bigger, and already loose, dinosaur of unknown species.” He made a face at her scrunched nose, “At least my risks were calculated.” She gasped in offense and pinched him.

                “Don’t think I don’t know how many times you jumped down into that raptor pen!”

                “Only when someone fell in!”

                “Yeah because two dead employees is always better than one.” She said rolling her eyes as she turned on her heel to the door.

                “I was fast and the girls knew me…” They bickered back and forth on their way out to the golf cart, never really settling on who was more responsible for Charlie’s lack of respect for personal safety. They could have argued that point for days without any resolution.

                Charlie’s work with Harry was far from resolved, however. A lot of visitors managed to get them signing to each other on video, and there were several high resolution photos floating around the internet. The video went viral in a matter of weeks, and soon the zoo was getting bombarded with phone calls for interviews with the press, everyone wanting to know who the “Monkey Boy” was. Claire was a little peeved by the moniker, but she was distressed by the whole situation.

                “ _Oh god_ Owen, what happens when they know his _name_?” They were huddled together in bed looking at the articles and news segments about their son and Harry. It was only natural for her to worry about it, considering their employment history. Charlie knew about Isla Nublar, as most kids his age did. He knew more details than most because of the exhibit at the zoo and because of what Zach and Gray had told him. He also knew that his parents used to work there. He knew that Owen worked with dinosaurs if only because of the pictures of him with the raptor hatchlings around the house, and he knew Claire had basically run the place. But that was about it. Claire knew he had a lot of questions about it, that he wasn’t stupid and had probably done his own internet searches, but he was smart enough to know that it was a touchy topic for them. He simply didn’t bring it up. Claire let her head rest on Owen’s shoulder, rolling it just so for comfort. “If he does an interview, we’ll have to talk to him first.”

                “And tell him what? Mom and Dad let the monsters out and then let them kill each other?”

                “Be serious, please.”

                “I am! Cause that’s exactly what people will say. That and _how does it feel to be the son of the people who permanently shut down the top grossing amusement park of all time_?”

                She let out a frustrated groan, “I really thought we’d have a couple more years before telling him this crap.”

                They both jumped at the sound of their son’s voice, “I pretty much know everything already,” he interrupted, walking into their room and sliding onto the end of their bed.  He flopped down dramatically, spread eagle, staring up at the ceiling. Owen took a beat to calm down because his hand was already going for the bat he kept under the bed on his side, and Claire sat up to pet his head.

                “What are you doing up, little bear?” she asked with no small amount of concern. Charlie could fall asleep anywhere at any time. He slept deeply too, and had vivid, colorful dreams.

                “Couldn’t sleep,” he admitted, “Thought you’d be mad because me and Harry are on TV.”

                “We’re not _mad_ …” she started to say.

                Owen cut her off, “I am.”

                “Okay, your father’s mad. But I’m not. I’m worried. What do you know about Jurassic World?” Charlie rolled onto his stomach, pressing his face into the blankets before looking up at them.

                “I know that it was an amusement park with dinosaurs. I know Dad used to train velociraptors and Mom used to run the park. I know Zach and Gray and you guys almost died there because a big one got out. I know a lot of people blame Mom for it getting out. I know that Zach and Gray got lost and you guys went looking for them, and that Mom let out a T-rex to fight the big dinosaur that got out. I know that Mom’s friend Zara died that day, so that’s where I got my middle name and that one of Dad’s raptor’s name was Charlie and that three of his four raptors died too. There’s conflicting accounts of what actually happened that day, but the bottom line is that someone messed up, a lot of people got hurt, and you guys had to fix it.”

                Claire had grabbed Owen’s hand and was squeezing it beyond feeling. Owen had held his breath the whole time Charlie spoke. He stated the facts so blandly and so simply that it was a bit bewildering, considering the fact that he’d never once asked them about it.

                “You know a lot,” Claire said, a little choked up. Owen hadn’t caught his breath yet.

                Charlie sighed and flopped onto his back again, and replied drolly, “The internet is a vast wealth of useful information if you know where to look.” He paused for a thoughtful, tense moment, “I get why you don’t like talking about it though.” He rolled his head so that his big gray eyes were peering up at his clearly distressed parents, “You guys really loved that place a lot. Like I love the zoo.”

                Claire felt her eyes stinging with tears and she wanted to sob, but she choked it down so Charlie didn’t get upset. She knew Owen was probably feeling the same way. During their short stay back in the park after the incident, she and Owen had talked about how much they loved Jurassic World. For Claire, it had been mostly about the job, about how much she loved the work. Owen’s had been tied up in his relationship with the raptors. But they both admitted that the island was something eerie and spectacular. Regardless, for the both of them it was the first place that had felt like home in a really long time.  And everything had come crumbling down in less than twenty four hours. All of their work and care, and the homes they’d built for themselves, all of it was gone. In the months following, they’d had to be firm and resolute in their desire to close the park, for better or worse.

                “Yes,” Owen answered hoarsely, “just like that.” And for the first time, Owen told their son stories about their time on the island, about the raptors he’d trained, the people he’d met, how he met Claire. He talked about Blue and the Indominus, he talked about Hoskins and Lowery. He talked about their trek to find Zach and Gray, and how Claire shot a dimorphodon to save him. He talked about riding out with the girls to find the I-rex, and what it felt like to have even the smallest amount of influence on them. He talked about Claire running the T-rex to fight the Indominus, and how the Mosasaur really won the day. He talked about how they’d gone back to put down the wild animals, how Claire saved Blue.  She chimed in every once in a while, usually to correct or supply information, but both she and Charlie were happy enough to listen to Owen’s enthused storytelling. They were up half the night talking and reminiscing, and laughing at their son’s outrageous questions. It didn’t hurt as much to talk about it anymore, and Claire felt immense relief in her son’s fascination instead of horror. Her greatest fear was that he’d believe she was the real villain of the story because no matter how often Owen reassured her, certain facts weighed heavy on her. Owen’s booming laugh shook her from her thoughts of the past to focus on Charlie’s bright face. That night they didn’t talk about the possibility of interviews and what might be said; Claire figured they’d tell him everything and if he was asked, he’d give an honest, candid answer.

                Candid was definitely one way to describe his interview with the CBS Morning Show. The board was Not Happy about Charlie being in an animal enclosure at all, let alone by himself. However, they couldn’t figure out who to fire because everyone took the blame, and they couldn’t fire five of their top people in the middle of their peak season. To nip everything in the bud, they chose to put Charlie and Harry on the biggest network as if the whole thing had been planned.

                In response to Owen’s exasperation, Claire only shrugged, “First rule of PR: everything’s intentional.”  The zoo gave an exclusive interview to the Capital Times and the Green Bay Press Gazette, and then the Dearings and Harry were whisked off to New York to do an interview with CBS. Charlie didn’t like that Harry had to be sedated to be flown out, but even Owen said that a fifteen hour drive would be more stress on him than a couple of hours asleep. They took an evening flight so it didn’t mess with Harry’s sleeping patterns, and stayed the night at a hotel near the studio. Harry, under Robert’s care, was being put up at the Central Park Zoo. Charlie was seriously put out by this arrangement and was very anxious to make sure that Harry was okay.

                “Kid, hotels aren’t exactly monkey-friendly,” Owen argued, “Zoos are, Harry will be fine. Besides, Robert’s with him.” Claire didn’t know if he was stressed or cranky from the flight, but while they were checking out, Charlie impishly asked the man at the desk about why they couldn’t accommodate primates, but they could take in stupid little dogs. Claire flushed a dark red at the man’s completely baffled expression, but Owen just swept Charlie up and carried the boy kicking and faux screaming (more like giggling) right out the front door before anyone had the chance to respond. Claire left him a generous tip.

                Both Owen and Claire would be onstage with Charlie because he’d requested it. He didn’t say why, and they didn’t particularly care because he was their kid and that’s what you do. Of the three, Claire was the most nervous, which was ridiculous. She’d spent more time in front of the press than any of them, and this time it wasn’t about her or her work, it was a positive little fluff piece about a boy and his monkey friend. _Orangutans are apes, Dad._ No one cares, kid, no one cares. But she didn’t even try to explain herself; Charlie was her son and he was being put out before the public. Considering her track record with the media, she worried that they’d turn the table on him for a headline _Dino-Park Couple’s Kid Now Monkey-Whisperer._  She just didn’t want the two topics even associated with one another. It was Charlie who calmed her down.

                He took her hand and looked up at her, “Mom. Seriously, I’m fine. We’re just gonna talk about Harry and go home.” She nodded and dropped a kiss to his head. Then a producer hurried them out onto the interview couches. She fidgeted a bit, straightening Charlie’s clothes and teasing Owen for having make up (which he complained long and loudly about), but by the time the anchors walked over and introduced themselves, she was calm. Robert was nearby with Harry who was sitting sedately in an open cage, eating. Claire closed her eyes for a brief moment while they counted down and settled in as the anchors welcomed viewers back and introduced the Dearings.

                There were two women and one man, and the first woman to speak welcomed Charlie warmly, “Thank you so much for coming all this way, and taking time off school to talk to us.” Charlie just nodded and smiled, and the anchor was clearly charmed. She turned back to the camera. “Most of you all at home have probably seen the incredible video from the Henry Vilas Zoo of young Charlie here using _sign language_ to talk to a male orangutan that lives there. Charlie, tell us a little about you and Harry.”

                The boy inhaled audibly, “Well,” he said completely exhaling, “I work at—” Claire full-body nudged him. “I _help out_ at,” the anchors chuckled, “the zoo with my mom and dad. Dad trains the gators. Mom helps run the place.” He looked up at Claire for confirmation and she nodded, patting his back. “I met Harry when I was a baby and we’ve been friends ever since.”

                “That’s so sweet!” the other anchor interjected.

                “Sure,” Charlie said.

                “How old are you, Charlie?”

                “Twelve. Harry’s almost a year younger than me, so he’s 11.”

                “And when did you start working with Harry on signing?”

                “Over spring break. Me and my friend—” Claire nudged him again, “Me and the caretaker at the Primate Center, thought it would be cool to teach Harry some signs so we could talk.”

                The male anchor leaned in, “What kinds of things do you and Harry talk about?”

                Charlie shrugged, “Mostly food.” They all laughed, even Owen chuckled a little at his tone. “It’s the easiest thing to teach him since he sees it every day.”

                “And how many words do you think he knows by now? After what, three months?”

                “Yeah, um…he doesn’t know very much. Maybe 100? This one guy taught his gorilla, Koko over 1,000 words. I think me and Harry can beat that.”

                “You’re very ambitious.”

                “Mom says tenacious.” Of course this made them laugh all the harder. Charlie had no fear, no reservations about being in front of the camera. He was as calm and cheerful as he ever was. The first woman looked over and Claire and Owen for the first time.

                “So, Mom and Dad, how do we feel about Charlie’s work with Harry?” It was a perfectly normal, passive question, and Claire felt herself relax.  Owen told her from the beginning that she would be the one to answer for them. He was only there to support Charlie. Still, she glanced over for a second before answering.

                “We,” she turned back to face them, “had our concerns, of course. Harry is tame and perfectly gentle, but he’s still an animal and unpredictable.” She brought her hand up to Charlie’s neck and felt him lean into the touch, “But animal training is kind of in his blood, and he’s spent his whole life around animals. It would be silly not to trust his instincts.” Charlie beamed up at her.

                “A lot of pride there.”

                “Yes.”

                “We have one more question before we bring out Harry,” the second woman said. “We’d be remiss if we didn’t acknowledge that the two of you are former employees of Jurassic World’s Masrani Corp and InGen. And, that the two of you specifically came under fire for the tragedy that occurred there.” They were both nodding, not wanting to supply anymore fuel to the fire. “Do you believe that any of the controversy surrounding the incident, surrounding Mr. Dearing’s training methods of the velociraptors or the gross misconduct of the laboratories there has impacted your son’s relationship to parks or to the animals?” Claire felt all the air rush out of her.

                “That-”

                Owen cut her off. “Definitely.” Claire swiveled, eyes wide with concern seeing as this wasn’t something they’d discussed.  Owen shrugged.

                “Mr. Dearing?”

                He sat up a little straighter and leaned forward. “Look, what happened on Isla Nublar happened, and we can’t change the decisions that were made. We did the best we could with what we had at the time. But you can bet your _ass_ that what happened there influenced how we raised our son. He’s been taught to respect all life, to think about how his decisions impact others, and Claire here is definitely teaching him responsible business practices. He’s seen firsthand the methods that I used with those raptors because I use them on the gators at the zoo. He knows what happens when people mistreat the animals, he knows what happens when you think you can control them. We made sure that he knows.”

                The anchors seemed a little shocked by his vehemence, considering he’d been so quiet and still just seconds before. Claire smiled, putting a hand to his forearm, “Yes, exactly.”

                “All right, then. Well Charlie, would you like to show us what Harry can do?”

                “Sure!” He jumped off the couch and went over to where Harry was sitting. At the sight of the boy, even the anchors and crew could hear the ape’s kiss-squeaks. Charlie walked back onto the stage holding Harry’s hand as he walked upright. Behind them, Robert trailed with some of his food and toys. Charlie helped Harry up onto a tall stool, explaining that he liked to feel taller than everybody else.

                “That’s why he’s making that little gesture,” Charlie mimicked it. “It basically means _up_.”  Charlie went through their usual greetings that they practiced pretty regularly. What did he eat? What toy did he want? What did he want to eat now? Charlie talked verbally as he made the gestures, and also vocalized what Harry was saying, laughing a little when it was garbled. “He’s acting silly on purpose,” Charlie explained. “Now he’s making the sign for water, meaning he’s thirsty. Robert, can you hand me a glass?” Robert brought him a glass of water, and Harry was reaching for it but Charlie pulled it back. “I’m gonna make him practice,” he chuckled. “He doesn’t like that.” Charlie made the sign requesting for the name of the object. “He keeps saying water, but I want him to say cup.” Charlie kept requesting and held up the cup, tapping the glass. “He’s saying _cup, cup, cup, cup_.” They all laughed. “ _Water cup_! Well, that’s new.” He handed Harry the glass, the orangutan drank it down politely and handed it back. Everyone found this adorable. “Now, I’m telling him who’s here. Me.  Robert.  Mom.  Dad.  Friends.”

                “He knows your name?”

                “Sure. The letters. He knows his name too,” He asked Harry to sign it, “And then he knows the sign for his mom, my mom, and my dad.” Charlie tossed his head a little. “Well, kind of. He doesn’t have a dad, so the sign for my dad is basically _other mom_.” More laughter. “He’s a little nervous right now cause it’s very bright and very different in here. That’s what he keeps signing, _different_. _Scared different_. I’m telling him he’s okay and that he’s safe here.” Smacking his lips, Harry reached out to Charlie for a hug and they embraced. There was a soft _aww_ that went through the crew, but then Charlie started tickling Harry and the ape threw his handles up and chortled. “He likes being tickled.”

                “Charlie, who taught you to sign?”

                “Taught myself,” he told them handing over a knotted rope to Harry, “I read a lot. So when I learn something, I teach Harry.”

                “That’s a lot of work to become fluent in another language.”

                “It’s worth it.”

                “And what made you decide that it was worth it to teach Harry?” 

                “Mmm. I have a lot of family, and a lot of people who care about me. Harry’s just got his mom, me, and the caretakers. I guess I kinda adopted him. Do you want me to ask him why he signs?” There was a resounding affirmative. Charlie made some quick gestures, and Harry only responded with one. His pointer fingers touched their respective thumbs, his hands slightly cupped, and then he rotated them forward so that the tips of his pinkies touched just so. Charlie smiled and held his hand out for a high five, which Harry gave.

“What did he say?” the second woman asked excitedly.

Charlie mimicked the gesture, “Family.” Then Harry dropped a hand on top of Charlie’s head making the boy scrunch up his face.


End file.
